Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 11: Meeting Jake

A robin hopped about on a branch, the leaves wet with morning dew. It cast its beady black gaze down at the wide river. Water gurgled quietly in the forest. Hundreds of trees lined the bank. The sky was clear, save for a few puffy white clouds scattered here and there.

The bird titled its head, flicked its tail—and promptly relieved itself. With a chipper chirp, it flapped its wings and took to the sky.

The waste dropped with an audible plop. It fell just inches from a strange figure lying upon the riverbank.

Lloyd blinked blearily, trying to figure out where he was. He shifted, then forced himself to stand. He groaned and rubbed his back, surveying his surroundings. Mud streaked across his uniform and face. With his disheveled hair, mud-stained clothes, and bruised face, he was a rather frightening and pitiful sight to behold.

His gaze drifted across the river, and he recalled what had happened last night. One of the cats had pushed him off the Destiny's Bounty, and he had tried to summon his elemental dragon. For a second he did, which helped ease the fall, but he was so uncertain and scared that the dragon had dissolved, leaving him to fall into the river. For a little while the current had carried him downriver, but he had mustered the last of his strength and clambered wearily up the muddy bank. Utterly exhausted, he'd simply laid himself down and fell asleep.

Now Lloyd had no idea where he was, where the Bounty was, or where his friends were. Nor his enemies, for that matter. With a shiver he glanced into the trees. Were there creatures disguised as innocent feral cats hiding beneath the undergrowth? Were they watching him?

He forced himself to shake off the spooky feeling. If there were enemies hiding in the forest, he'd be ready for them. He had no idea what those creatures wanted, but either way he was starting to get tired of being attacked by them.

Lloyd sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to find a way back to civilization, and he needed to find his team. What was left of them, anyway. He began walking through the trees, hoping he could come across a village. Villages are often by rivers, right? he thought.

He stepped into the shade of the forest and drifted by the trunks, wandering through the undergrowth. Birds hiding in the treetops chirped and sang cheerily, uncaring of the lone figure walking by quietly.

He rolled his sore shoulder muscles and realized that he'd lost his katana. If someone attacked him, he would be virtually defenseless. Still, he had Spinjitzu, so the situation wasn't hopeless. Just... bleak.

Lloyd wandered blearily through the woods, searching, waiting for a sign of civilization. He had no idea where he was, even though he climbed several tall trees and peeked over the branches to look for smoke or the tips of buildings. No such luck. Nothing but endless forest stretched out for miles in every direction.

He decided to follow the river, in case he came across a fishing settlement. As he made his way up the bank, the water beside him slowly grew stormier; the gurgle grew to a deep growl, and white-capped waves began to appear and splash wildly against the dark boulders protruding the surface.

When he felt strong enough, he summoned his elemental dragon. In this way the trip became faster, though nonetheless long and lonely. Once in a while he would glance up and try to guess how much time had passed, judging on where the sun was. As it rose, he figured out that he was heading in a general western direction.

Hours passed, and hunger began to gnaw at his stomach. He glanced into the bushes for any sign of food, but all he ever saw were a clump of spiky hedges holding bright red berries, and he felt that red probably wasn't the best color to be eating.